Studying in Sydney from Feb- Dec? Any Advice?
Aug 17th, 2004, 04:55 AM
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yes - ditto - curious question. You must have done SOME reseach before deciding to come here. Like I assume you know where Sydney is, and the climate, and the attractions. So in what way can a local help - apart from advising you to get a passport (else they won't let you in).
Aug 17th, 2004, 12:50 PM
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I appologize for being vague, and appreciate your responses.
Studying at The University of Sydney: Digital Art and Design. I want to know about traveling to other parts of Australia, is there a pass i can buy or I should buy before going there in order to travel around, plane? bus?
Any particualr travel guide besides Fodors? I do not know yet where I will be living, if at the dorms or an appt? Anything around there that is semi-affordable, that i can be searching?
Studying at The University of Sydney: Digital Art and Design. I want to know about traveling to other parts of Australia, is there a pass i can buy or I should buy before going there in order to travel around, plane? bus?
Any particualr travel guide besides Fodors? I do not know yet where I will be living, if at the dorms or an appt? Anything around there that is semi-affordable, that i can be searching?
Aug 17th, 2004, 02:46 PM
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Hi, shundele!
Your questions are mainly those of concern to people your own age, so you might be wise to post the query also on Lonely Planet's ThornTree forum. I'm not exactly in your age group, so my answers may not be 100% reliable, but here's a bit of information to start you off:
Passes: the only pass I can think of that would probably interest you is the bus pass (can't remember the name... I'm sure someone else will) which allows you to travel around the country on long-distance coaches for around half-price. It is only available to students, and I think also it is restricted to visitors. You have to show your passport when you buy it (as well as proof of your student status), but I don't think you need to buy it before you leave home. I recall it being onsale at the bus terminal right under Sydney Terminal Station.
There are concessions for just about everything else for students, but the Uni of NSW will clue you on these when you arrive. Fortunately, this is situated much closer to Sydney than a couple of the other universities, so you will be right near where all the action is.
Accommodation. The best place to start off would be at the Sydney Central YHA, which is right opposite the coach terminal. There are regular buses diagonally opposite which will take you to the Uni of NSW. You wouldn't want to stay in the hostel for too long, as it's by no means the cheapest hostel in the southern hemisphere, but it has the usual notice board and helpful leaflets... and it's a pleasant building where you will meet plenty of young people in the same position as yourself. It's not within walking distance of the Uni of NSW, but it is only a few hundred metres from the University of Technology (walk due west)and (a kilometre further west) Sydney University. Both these places will have notice boards with rooms to rent or flats to share with other students. Of course, the University of NSW will have the same facilities, so between the three you should be able to find yourself some pleasant "digs" within a couple of days. Sydney is full of students, many from overseas, so you will soon come across someone from your homeland and probably from your home town. For instance, Oxford Street, which runs from Hyde Park in Sydney up to Anzac Parade, which is the long street where the University of NSW is situated, has lots of apartments which are rented mainly by Asian students from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.... one student takes out the lease (maybe at around $AUD180 a week), and then sub-lets to one or two others. If you are going to lease a flat like this, you should expect to sign a contract for six months, and also you will need a deposit bond equal to the first month's rent (plus you pay your rent monthly in advance, so this means you need two month's rent -- maybe $AUD600 -- in your pocket when you begin).
I don't know if you could begin to search right now, before you leave home -- I guess it wouldn't hurt to make your needs known on ThornTree, and also at this website: http://www.budgettravel.com/messages/.
Good luck, and I hope this has been of some small assistance!
Your questions are mainly those of concern to people your own age, so you might be wise to post the query also on Lonely Planet's ThornTree forum. I'm not exactly in your age group, so my answers may not be 100% reliable, but here's a bit of information to start you off:
Passes: the only pass I can think of that would probably interest you is the bus pass (can't remember the name... I'm sure someone else will) which allows you to travel around the country on long-distance coaches for around half-price. It is only available to students, and I think also it is restricted to visitors. You have to show your passport when you buy it (as well as proof of your student status), but I don't think you need to buy it before you leave home. I recall it being onsale at the bus terminal right under Sydney Terminal Station.
There are concessions for just about everything else for students, but the Uni of NSW will clue you on these when you arrive. Fortunately, this is situated much closer to Sydney than a couple of the other universities, so you will be right near where all the action is.
Accommodation. The best place to start off would be at the Sydney Central YHA, which is right opposite the coach terminal. There are regular buses diagonally opposite which will take you to the Uni of NSW. You wouldn't want to stay in the hostel for too long, as it's by no means the cheapest hostel in the southern hemisphere, but it has the usual notice board and helpful leaflets... and it's a pleasant building where you will meet plenty of young people in the same position as yourself. It's not within walking distance of the Uni of NSW, but it is only a few hundred metres from the University of Technology (walk due west)and (a kilometre further west) Sydney University. Both these places will have notice boards with rooms to rent or flats to share with other students. Of course, the University of NSW will have the same facilities, so between the three you should be able to find yourself some pleasant "digs" within a couple of days. Sydney is full of students, many from overseas, so you will soon come across someone from your homeland and probably from your home town. For instance, Oxford Street, which runs from Hyde Park in Sydney up to Anzac Parade, which is the long street where the University of NSW is situated, has lots of apartments which are rented mainly by Asian students from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.... one student takes out the lease (maybe at around $AUD180 a week), and then sub-lets to one or two others. If you are going to lease a flat like this, you should expect to sign a contract for six months, and also you will need a deposit bond equal to the first month's rent (plus you pay your rent monthly in advance, so this means you need two month's rent -- maybe $AUD600 -- in your pocket when you begin).
I don't know if you could begin to search right now, before you leave home -- I guess it wouldn't hurt to make your needs known on ThornTree, and also at this website: http://www.budgettravel.com/messages/.
Good luck, and I hope this has been of some small assistance!
Aug 17th, 2004, 04:59 PM
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shundele, bear in mind that the University of New South Wales that Alan refers to is an entirely different institution to the University of Sydney and in the opposite direction from the city centre. Your university His recommendation of the YHA is a good one, as you'll be able to find out a lot about how younger visitors to Australia get around the country. It's hard to advise you beyond that, as Australia is about as big as the 48 contiguous American states and there's a lot of options. You could also check out the nearest office of the Student Travel Association (STA).
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Aug 18th, 2004, 04:32 AM
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Hey, Neil, John, give me a break! I know I'm confused most of the time, but this time I told it like it is! Sydney Uni IS about a kilometre west of the Uni of Technology, and The Uni of NSW IS out towards Randwick, along Anzac Parade, which you get to by heading up Oxford St to Taylor Square. The buses I was referring to are the ones heading up Wentworth Ave, not the George Street ones (which, I admit, are pretty close to the YHA also!) I merely suggested that, since he could walk to Sydney Uni from the hostel, it might be a good place for shundele to look at the notice board for accommodation in the near-city area.... it would be comforting, I think, for him to have a few options for accommodation even before he walked in the gates of "the best uni in oz".
A crumbling mass of sandstone!!!??? You cut me to the quick!
A crumbling mass of sandstone!!!??? You cut me to the quick!
Aug 18th, 2004, 02:25 PM
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It might be a little indelicate to mention that only one Australian institution made it into a recent list of the world's best 100 universities, but I will. It was of course the Australian National University, here in Canberra.
(Only one ... what a pathetic performance. If we were performing as badly in the sporting stakes there'd be a national outcry and swift government action. Actually, we were, and there was, hence the creation of the Australian Institute of Sport.)
(Only one ... what a pathetic performance. If we were performing as badly in the sporting stakes there'd be a national outcry and swift government action. Actually, we were, and there was, hence the creation of the Australian Institute of Sport.)
Aug 18th, 2004, 10:34 PM
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I sense a little rivalry among the institutions... Is this typical of the universities over there? As a student, what are the top 5 things i should do in Australia, and cheapest airline for travel between lax and back? feb-dec 2005- thanks by the way to all who are answering my questions
Aug 19th, 2004, 12:34 AM
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I think that in the past and for all I know still there's been some assumed cachet attached to attending the older institutions like the universities of Sydney and Melbourne. UNSW carried the taint of a commercial flavour when it was set up in the 1950s. More than that I don't know (or care).
shundele, sorry, but your questions are still way too general. If someone asked, "as a student, what are the top five things I should do in the USA?", how would you answer that? It really depends on what your interests are, but you haven't given us any clues about that. What other research are you doing? (As a student, research should come easily to you!)
My suggestion is to read up on Australia, search the Web on australia +tourism, say, and use the search engine on this board to drill down on areas that interest you. Buy a travel guide. For a student, Lonely Planet is probably the best choice. North Queensland is one obvious place to start, but then, how do I know whether rain forests and coral reefs are your thing?
shundele, sorry, but your questions are still way too general. If someone asked, "as a student, what are the top five things I should do in the USA?", how would you answer that? It really depends on what your interests are, but you haven't given us any clues about that. What other research are you doing? (As a student, research should come easily to you!)
My suggestion is to read up on Australia, search the Web on australia +tourism, say, and use the search engine on this board to drill down on areas that interest you. Buy a travel guide. For a student, Lonely Planet is probably the best choice. North Queensland is one obvious place to start, but then, how do I know whether rain forests and coral reefs are your thing?
Aug 19th, 2004, 04:32 AM
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The cheapest airline between LAX and Oz? - that's for you to work out for yourself. Try googling.
Your Q re Top 5 things to do in Australia puts in mind a recent statistic I read which claimed that 23 out of 56 Americans couldn't say where the Pacific Ocean is. Do you have any idea what Australia has to offer? Don't you think you should, when you decide to visit another country? I will be less kind than previous posters. You must do some research youself - it ain't hard and, as you are a student, I guess you must have some sort of research skills.
You see, my list - concentrating on the landscape and arts, might be very different from yours (white water rafting; bungy jumping; diving). Hope you get my drift.
Your Q re Top 5 things to do in Australia puts in mind a recent statistic I read which claimed that 23 out of 56 Americans couldn't say where the Pacific Ocean is. Do you have any idea what Australia has to offer? Don't you think you should, when you decide to visit another country? I will be less kind than previous posters. You must do some research youself - it ain't hard and, as you are a student, I guess you must have some sort of research skills.
You see, my list - concentrating on the landscape and arts, might be very different from yours (white water rafting; bungy jumping; diving). Hope you get my drift.
